Tale of a Sleepy Mouse
by thefictionalLady
Summary: Henry makes a new friend - a strange girl called Dory Maus. When trouble brews in Storybrook once again, she and Henry will more useful than they thought.
1. Chapter 1

***** Hey guys! Hope you enjoy this! R+R or whatever! Or don't... Tis your life! Have a pleasant afternoon! More to come soon!*****

Henry Mills walked down the street to the diner as he always did after school. Just because his mom and Snow came back did _not _mean he got to stop going to school. He took a seat at the bar, happy it was warm inside because it was awfully cold outside. Ruby approached him with her usual smile.

"Hey, Henry, what can I get you?" she asked, preparing her notebook.

"Hot chocolate, please," he answered, putting a five dollar bill on the table, "and keep 'em coming."

"You got it," she laughed scribbling down the order.

Henry sat waiting for his order, looking around at everyone with a new sense of contentedness. Everything was finally working out. Regina was changing for the better, his family was reunited, and he was living amongst a whole slew of storybook characters. What kid could ask for more?

"Here, you go Henry, one hot coco, with cinnamon, just how you like it."

"Thanks, Ruby," Henry smiled.

"So how are your mom and Snow doing, anything –"Ruby was cut off by the phone ringing. "Hang on a sec." She picked up the phone. "Hello? Yes, this is she." A strange look appeared on her face as she disappeared into the back room.

_"I wonder what that's about." _Henry thought as he sipped his coco. His mind wandered at what mayhem could be brewing next, what could possibly happen next.

He turned his eyes to the window, where a bench caught his attention. Out in the cold December weather, a teenage girl was curled up on the bench asleep.

Henry got up and walked outside towards her. He really didn't think about what he was doing or why he was going to her, but she couldn't have been in a great situation to be napping outside in thirteen degree weather. She looked like a girl who needed a little bit of help, and Henry had helping blood all in his family.

He got a better look as he approached her. The girl had wild mousy brown hair that stuck out from under her neon orange toboggan and covered her face. He couldn't tell much else from the way she was laying, and the baggy clothes she was wearing really didn't help either. Henry _did _see that she was clutching a book, and from closer inspection, discovered it was _Of Mice and Men_.

What Henry _didn't _notice was the stirring of the girl on the bench; that is until she screamed and fell off.

"Are you ok?" Henry asked, helping the girl up.

"Oh, yeah, that happens all the time," she smiled, brushing herself off, "I'm easily startled."

"Sorry for waking you."

"Don't worry about it kid," The girl ruffled his hair, "it's not good for me to stay sleeping in one spot for too long anyway, I get cricks." There was a pause in which the girl yawned and stretched and cracked a crick out of her neck before she finally asked, "So what's your name, kid?"

"Henry," he said, extending his hand, "and you are?"

"Dory Maus, but you can call me Dory," she said taking his hand, bending over a bit so she was more his height, although she wasn't _that _much taller than him, probably only by a about a foot. "Say aren't you that one kid, who's those people's son or grandson or something that does all of that stuff?" She said yawning once again.

"Yeah, I'm Emma's real son, Regina's adoptive son, and Prince Charming and Snow White are my grandparents."

"Woah, that's some family tree you've got there, Harry, I don't even have any friends. Well I did, but I lost them in the curse, I'd look for them but I've just been so busy." As she was saying this, she stopped four times yawning. Henry decided to be polite and ignore the fact that Dory had called him "Harry" instead of "Henry."

"Why don't we go find them now?" Henry suggested, ready to be useful.

"You mean you'd help me find them?" She looked astonished.

"Sure."

"Nah, that's ok, if they wanted me to find them they would have found me by now. I wasn't really _great _friends with them; none of us were great friends. We all just kind of ended up staying together." Dory paused for a moment then ruffled Henry's hair again and yawn. "But you're a sweet kid for asking, thank you. No one has taken so much notice of me in years."

"Really, why?"

"Well, I guess I'm a little bit of a hobo. It's kind of a long story and it's chilly out here. You better run inside before you catch a cold." She gestured back towards the diner.

"But what about you?"

"What about me? I'll be fine, I always am. As long as there's a place where I can sleep, I'm good to go." She smiled, but Henry was saddened. He couldn't just leave her. Dory _did _need help, she was homeless and alone. He had to do something, even if it was just a little something.

"Well I'd really like to hear your story, why don't we go in Granny's, if you're not too busy."

She thought about it for a moment, then finally said, "Alright, I guess I have some time. Besides, if I do something now I can take a really nice nap later. Lead the way, Hershel!"


	2. Chapter 2

Henry did indeed "lead the way," politely reminding Dory that his name was Henry and not Hershel or Harry. They sat down where Henry had been sitting before, his coco still waiting for him, although it was significantly less hot. Ruby spotted the two and walked over.

Right as she approached Dory started sniffing. A terrified look came over her face and she whispered "cat" right before she ducked under the table.

"Hey there, Henry, who's your friend," Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow to the strange reaction.

As she was asking this, Dory was still sniffing. "Oh," she said, peeping her head over the counter, taking a long whiff of the air, "not a cat-" *sniff* "but a dog-"*sniff, sniff* "wait-"*sniiiiffffff* "a_ wolf!_" Realizing that Ruby was in fact, not a cat, Dory happily sat back in her chair and held out her hand for Ruby to shake. "Hi, I'm Dory; I'm sorry I thought you were a cat."

"I'm Ruby, and it's okay," she replied, taking the strange girl's hand. Ruby knew there were some pretty unusual people, but she hadn't met anyone as strange as this girl before, villains included. "Can I get you anything?"

"Water, please."

"She'll have a hot coco, like me, Ruby," Henry looked at Dory and smiled, "I got it covered."

"That's really sweet, kid, but really I'm ok with just water." She glanced from Henry, to Ruby, back to Henry. "I need hydration more than anything, and if I drink something warm I'll just fall asleep." A playful smile came across her face.

"Are you sure?" he asked after Ruby left.

"Positive, you want to hear my story, right?" Henry nodded. "Then I'd better stay awake for it don't you think?" she winked.

"One water," Ruby said setting the glass in front of her," and here's a grilled cheese; on the house." Dory opened her mouth to protest, but Ruby cut in before she could begin. "Don't worry, a customer ordered this and left before they even got the food not too long ago, it'd be a waste not to give it to someone."

"Thanks," she mumbled; her eyes on the food.

"What was that call about Ruby?" Henry asked.

"Nothing, your grandparents just want to meet up later."

"Is anything wrong?"

"No, we're just…catching up." Henry could tell by Ruby's tone of voice that they weren't just going to be "catching up," but he decided to let it go – for now.

Turning his attentions back on Dory, he realized that she had fallen asleep already, the sandwich still in hand. He gently nudged her awake, which startled her and she almost fell off of the stool. Luckily she was used to this happening and was able to regain her balance before she fell off.

"Sorry, was just taking a break to digest."

"But you've only had one bite," Henry pointed to the crescent shaped hole.

"That's beside the point," she said, dusting the crumbs off of her hands. "Now, what are we doing here?"

"You're going to tell me about your friends," Henry reminded her, "you said it was a long story."

"Oh yes, well I suppose we should start at the beginning – although the middle is a lot more interesting, but then you would most likely get confused, so I suppose the beginning is best." She took a pause to yawn – let it be known that throughout the entirety of this story, Dory yawned a total of fourteen times at various points; this is an important fact because of reasons. "I was an orphan – or I am an orphan, that didn't really change between worlds – my parents died when I was five to an illness that took the lives of many in my village. At the end of our plague there were several orphans, and widowed husbands and wives, but you don't want to hear about all of that sad stuff.

My old life really wasn't that different than it is here, actually. I wandered around looking for places to sleep, scrounging around for food, and occasionally sneaking into people's houses and snatching a rather valuable but insignificant trinket that I could sell when times were tough. I did stop thieving but," Dory looked around and leaned in closer to Henry so she didn't have to talk so loud, "I do occasionally sneak into abandoned houses or the empty rooms at the end so I can sleep in a warm place, but don't tell anyone." She backed away and took a swig of water.

"Now where was I, oh yes, thieving. Well one day I was doing that exact thing – I had snuck into a hat shop, for as you know, hat shops more often than not have things that can be sold, and the hatters are usually so crazy they don't notice anything is missing.

I was digging through a box full of tools when I heard a voice from behind me.

"_Can I help you?" _

I spun around to meet a tall man – well tall compared to me – who didn't look all that mad yet. This was a rather disappointing discovery, because now I would have to flee with no prize to sell and go into hiding for a while in case he called the authorities – although "going into hiding" for me simply meant going into the woods and sleeping for a few weeks straight.

I shook my head to answer his question then started to bolt out of there, but I was caught by the collar before I could get past him.

"_It's okay; I'm not going to tell on you," the man said, "Would you like some tea?"_

This was a shock to my ten year old self for this wasn't the usual response when I was caught trying to steal – and I was caught very few times, but most ended up with me sleeping for a long while. Whether it was from shock or starvation, I said yes.

He prepared some tea and got out some snacks, which I devoured.

Finally, once I had my fill, I asked him why he was being so nice to me.

"_Because you remind me of someone I know, and miss very much." _Was his answer.

I wondered who this person was, but I was far too sleepy to ask – for food and tea is a sure recipe for sleep, you know – and not even a few moments after I was out.

When I woke up I was lying in a cot in the corner of the room and the nice man was sitting in the middle of the floor working diligently on a hat.

"_You're up," _he said without turning around, _"it's about time; I was beginning to get worried. It's been three days." _

"_Sorry, I sleep a lot." _I felt bad for sleeping so long at this guy's house, but surprisingly he was chuckling.

"_I can tell. Say, what was your name again?"_

"_Dory Maus." _

"_Like a dormouse? That's certainly fitting; you sleep as much as one."_

I didn't say anything. He finally turned from his work and looked at me. He had an amused half-smile on his face, I remember because at first it kind of scared me, he had this ominous vibe that freaked me out. Don't get me wrong he was a really nice guy but the dude had a capital C creep feel.

"_Well my name is Jefferson," _he held out his hand, and hesitantly I took it. _"Feel free to stay as long as you like, Dormouse, to be honest I'm glad to have some company. Making these hats with no one around is driving me mad." _

I did stay as long as I liked, longer actually because I meant to stay only a few weeks, but with the way I sleep it ended up being about a year."

"So you were friends with Jefferson? Like, the Mad Hatter Jefferson?" Henry interrupted.

"Is that what they call him? I really didn't call him anything, but yeah I guess. It wasn't for a very long time. There was also this guy named Harry that came around sometimes, but most of the time I was only half awake when he visited."

"So you're the Dormouse?" Henry whispered, more to himself than to Dory.

Dory suddenly sat up straight. "Someone's coming, they're running," she said.

"What?"

Henry didn't have time to hear Dory repeat herself, for a rather disheveled man burst into the diner.

All eyes were on him. He looked around. His eyes were wild.

"She's at it again! She's terrorizing the town!" screamed the crazy man.

"Who?" Ruby asked, coming out from behind the counter.

"Regina."


End file.
